Christmas time is here...

Hello,  my name is Jingling, and I'm hijacking this blog.
My English name is Leroy, I arrived in Taiwan on Friday, after a very long journey .  I realized quickly I shouldn't have packed all my wool I suits, as it is still warm here, 75 degrees and sunny.  I plan to have some fun with the students, and get to know the area.
    Today I tagged along with Allison, Linda, and Thomas when they went Christmas shopping, and I noticed there isn't a whole lot of Christmas celebrating around here, There are good and bad sides to this. The decorations didn't start popping up until a week or two ago, which means that nobody is sick of Christmas carols that have been playing since mid-October, or those awful cinnamon pine cones that they put in front of every single store in the US.  Since there's no TV here, no Christmas commercials.  I get to spend a whole year without listening to the Chrysler choir sing about buying new cars.  Hallelujah.  There are a few Christmas trees up, like this one in front of FE 21 in Hsinchu:

I know though, that Allison missed Home for the Holidays, and decorating.   And when she was listening to music on the train, Silent Night came on, and she told me she was really going to miss the candlelight service at church.  Maybe next year.  There are a few Christmas parties coming up, and we may go to Taipei for New Years, I'm really excited about that!